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Brain correlates of phasic autonomic response to acupuncture stimulation: An event-related fMRI study

Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) response to acupuncture has been investigated by multiple studies; however, the brain circuitry underlying this response is not well understood. We applied event-related fMRI (er-fMRI) in conjunction with ANS recording (heart rate, HR; skin conductance response, SCR). Brief manual acupuncture stimuli were delivered at acupoints ST36 and SP9, while sham stimuli were delivered at control location, SH1. Acupuncture produced activation in S2, insula, and mid-cingulate cortex, and deactivation in default mode network (DMN) areas. On average, HR deceleration (HR-) and SCR were noted following both real and sham acupuncture, though magnitude of response was greater following real acupuncture and inter-subject magnitude of response correlated with evoked sensation intensity. Acupuncture events with strong SCR also produced greater anterior insula activation than without SCR. Moreover, acupuncture at SP9, which produced greater SCR, also produced stronger sharp pain sensation, and greater anterior insula activation. Conversely, acupuncture-induced HR- was associated with greater DMN deactivation. Between-event correlation demonstrated that this association was strongest for ST36, which also produced more robust HR-. In fact, DMN deactivation was significantly more pronounced across acupuncture stimuli producing HR-, versus those events characterized by acceleration (HR+). Thus, differential brain response underlying acupuncture stimuli may be related to differential autonomic outflows and may result from heterogeneity in evoked sensations. Our er-fMRI approach suggests that ANS response to acupuncture, consistent with previously characterized orienting and startle/defense responses, arises from activity within distinct subregions of the more general brain circuitry responding to acupuncture stimuli.
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22091
Authors: Vitaly Napadow, Jeungchan Lee, Jieun Kim, Stephen Cina, Yumi Maeda, Riccardo Barbieri, Richard E. Harris, Norman Kettner, Kyungmo Park
Institutions: Logan University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Kyung Hee University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Korea Science and Engineering Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Center for Research Resources, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Awards: G1947016736, Brain Plasticity in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and its Response to Acupuncture, FMRI of Autonomic Regulation with Acupuncture, Point Process Models of Human Heart Beat Interval Dynamics, Neuroimaging Acupuncture Effects Brain Activity in Chronic low Back Pain, Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (UL1), Center for Functional Imaging Technologies, G5850682332, Exploring Neurocircuitry of Acupuncture Action with fMRI, An fMRI study of expectancy on acupuncture treatment outcomes in knee OA, Neuroimaging Acupuncture Effects on Human Brain Activity, G9000074708
OpenAlex ID: W1603685171
FWCI: 22.6
Cites: 74
Cited by: 79
Related to: 10